Every Company Needs a Good Map

There is a tendency to put something together and then walk away. The hope is that the installation will go well and that the something will just work as it was intended for years and years.

It is more fun to work on new things than to maintain old things. The grass is always greener when compared to the dirt that was there before than it is when compared to the grass that grew there last year. The rate of success of a new product is often in high double digits. The change in sales for an old product is often in single digits or low double digits. People seem to enjoy talking about new products. Rarely is there much buzz about old reliable products.

Here are some examples of what I mean:

1. Leaders write a directive for a new program, and then no follow-up (Leadership)
2. Buying a car and then never going to have it tuned up (Personal Growth)
3. Building a bridge and then not servicing it properly (Politics)
4. Working to capture a market and then not launching well (Branding)
5. Developing a new product, then not improving on it (Product Development)

One could argue on that last point, since the item was sold for 6 years and then the guys who wrote the OS ended up writing the OS for the iPOD. There may be better examples but the point is still made.

As one conquers more territory, there is more territory to maintain. The ancient empire builders learned this lesson. You cannot simply overrun a country and then move on if you hope to keep it. The downside is that the troops available for the next invasion are reduced with each capture. Empire builders knew this and would build new strength before moving on. They would install local leaders that were loyal or trustable and work to recruit new forces form the captured lands. As you consider the company budget, consider how much easier it is to keep the market share you have, rather than fight to get it back.

Politicians love to spend money on new projects because such efforts make headlines. They get no praise for money spent maintaining a bridge. If we learned anything from the bridge collapse in Minnesota it is this; we cannot ignore the present need to keep what we have. If we fail to spend the money where we already have investment, then we will fall victim to relentless decay.

As I work on business plans, I am constantly surprised by the lack of planning for anything other than growth. In the first year, this is understandable but after that, the company should have some base that it serves. Any company that has to rely on a constant stream of new customers will always fail. Repeat purchasing is a huge barrier to entry only when customers want to come back.

In the average company, should more money be spent on quality control or R&D?